Eternity's Grace
by BravoMonAmi
Summary: Arashi, an exorcist at the Black Order, is living anything but a normal life. Her problem? A certain red-haired exorcist finds himself committing the biggest taboo as a Bookman successor: becoming infatuated. LavixOC
1. Enter Arashi

**BMA:** Yaaay, Lavi time! He's my absolute favorite character in D. Gray-Man so I just had to make a story on him.

Those who don't know, Arashi means "storm" in Japanese. I named her that for a reason and not just to be cool, yep. x) Also, the double gun idea was inspired by Death the Kidd from Soul Eater (yay, Kidd!)

My first chapters are always short... fear not, they'll get bigger once I start getting into the story groove. I usually do 4-5k+ words per chapter at least.

* * *

"Arashi! Arashi, come back here!"

Said brown-haired exorcist dashed forward with no regard of the one responsible for calling out her name. She looked back, hoping the host of that menacing voice was no longer intent on capturing her; her coat, which extended slightly below her torso, bounced as she fled.

"Arashiiiiiii!"

The female's haste made her unable to realize she was no longer running at a straight angle, taking note just in time to avoid unnecessary damage. She smirked and headed for the right hallway, watching exorcists peek out of their rooms due to the surrounding commotion. It was only a matter of time, now.

Or so she thought.

Apparently, making the right turn was a bad idea; she had met face-to-face with one of the only corridors in the Black Order that led to a dead end rather than some sort of other passageway. The brown-haired girl scolded herself for getting confused about where her proper destination was and plopped down onto the cold ground with defeat.

"Ara- Hm? You stopped? That's a little surprising," came the voice of a younger male.

"There's no point in me running away any further, Allen," she responded. "I'm at a dead end. What bad luck."

The gray-haired boy laughed, scratching his cheek cutely. "Our last mission was difficult and you seemed to take a lot of damage, so I told you to get yourself healed up. Why do you always run away when you need to have your wounds healed?" The boy's tone wasn't harsh nor forgiving, but rather neutral. He sighed and extended a hand to the girl before him, giving off a warm smile. A golem, gold in color, sat comfortably in his hair, watching the scenario unfold.

"Komui's absolutely frightening, you know. So is the medical team," the female complained, allowing her arm to reach out and grab the one before her. "I'm not a fan of getting checked out anyway. Even before I joined the Order, my parents had to restrain me to get me to go to doctor appointments."

A laugh escaped the boy's lips.

"It'll be fine, don't worry. I'll come with you, okay?"

She was hesitant, but it was apparent the female had no choice but to agree at this point; allowing oneself to be left untreated could cost an exorcist their life at any moment. Knowing that, Arashi followed Allen towards the medical room, growing more and more tense as she got closer to the sanctuary of pain and suffering.

Albeit taking a good hour, she found herself free from the torture bearing good news: she had not attained any major injuries and any damage the girl's body had taken would heal within a day. Walking out of the room, Arashi took note of Allen standing by the doorway.

"Is everything okay?" He questioned.

"It wasn't as scary as I thought this time," she began. "That and I don't have any major injuries. Everything will heal fully within twenty-four hours, the nurse said."

"I'm glad!" The gray-haired exorcist responded with his usual smile. Seconds after, he found his stomach give off a loud rumble. Arashi sweatdropped, knowing fully well what this had meant… the gluttonous fifteen year-old boy needed to be at the cafeteria right away. She nodded, gesturing for the boy to take his leave. After returning to her room and changing outfits, Arashi decided to give her body a well-deserved food break.

* * *

The cafeteria was mighty crowded, which was expected. Being two hours past noon meant everyone had gathered to have lunch, filling up the seats like fangirls attending a Fall Out Boy concert. Arashi's eyes trailed around in an attempt to hunt down some free seats and eventually spotted a few surrounding a certain cold-hearted exorcist with blue hair. This gave the female an idea.

"Can I get what Kanda got, Jeryy-san?" The female requested, playing with the fur that trailed along the hood and bottom portion of her coat. "You know, soba."

"Of course~ Coming right up!" Responded the cook without any questions whatsoever, preparing her dish in under two minutes. Arashi's mouth, like always, formed an O as she smiled at the talented cook before her.

"Jeryy-san, you've gotten so good at this!" She complimented, watching the man give her a thumbs-up.

"Of course, Arashi-chan! I've been here for many years, so it's something that comes naturally!" He stated happily, watching his acquaintance wave goodbye as she proceeded to leave to devour her dish. It would've been nice to have a longer conversation with the man, but rush hour was rush hour and nothing could be done; if you were intent on speaking more with Jeryy, you'd have to catch him after the cafeteria had closed up.

"Hey, Kanda," the female exorcist said. "Mind if I sit here?"

"It's fine," Kanda replied in his usual, emotionless tone. His eyes trailed off to Arashi's tray of food on impulse, which sent a slight shock throughout the swordsman's body upon realizing what he'd just seen.

"Is something wrong?"

"Why are you eating the same thing as me?" He said, never once losing that angry-looking expression.

"Is that so wrong?" Arashi laughed, scratching the back of her head. "I know you love to eat soba so I wanted to try it out, too."

"Hmpf, whatever," came the swordsman's hasty reply.

The two ate in silence for a moment, Arashi glancing over at Kanda every once in a while in hopes of seeing him drop his choleric expression. All her efforts led to naught, however; such a goal was practically impossible to achieve.

Suddenly, a tray of food was slammed down onto the portion of the table across from Arashi, startling the female exorcist just a bit. The loud collision was frightening at first, but the female settled down after realizing who it was - a close friend who sometimes gave her quite a bit of trouble.

"Lavi!" She said. "I haven't seen you since yesterday morning."

"Hey there, Arashi, Yu," he smiled goofily. "I just got back from a mission and I'm so tired from it. I think the old panda is going to drag me out again tonight, though, so I'm trying to fill my stomach before I go," the boy sighed, slumping forward.

"Stupid rabbit!" Kanda exclaimed. "I told you not to call me by my first name." Once finished, the irritated long-haired man pulled out a sword, pointing it directly to Lavi's face. Lavi, smiling as usual, pulled his hands out in front of him in surrender.

"I see, I see," she laughed, ignoring the common dilemma between the two. "Allen and I just got back from a mission, too. I pray to God Komui doesn't send me on another one… I'm too exhausted from all of this. Speaking of which, where is Bookman? I'd expect him to be here eating, too."

"Well, he ran off after we got back to the Order, so I'm not sure," Lavi replied. "But I sure hope he doesn't come back for a whi-"

And suddenly, Lavi was sent flying several feet into the air, landing down with a loud thud momentarily. Arashi merely sweatdropped while Kanda gave a slight smirk, happy that someone did the honors of giving Lavi what he apparently deserved.

"B-Bookman! Nice to see you," Arashi said in surprise, trying her best not to act impolite. Her mind held a lot of respect for the older-aged Bookman, which was mainly due to his calm demeanor during Akuma battles and wise advice. "And Lavi, are you okay?"

"Dammit, that hurt! What did you do that for, you damn panda?" Lavi said during his wincing, holding his head in pain. The collision was enough for the red-haired Bookman-in-training to start bleeding out of his nose.

"Shut up, imbecile," Bookman retorted while taking his seat at the table. "As a Bookman, you need to show some respect. Just because you didn't think I was around doesn't mean you can freely insult your elders. I will never allow an idiot like you to become my successor!"

And cue the other common scenario: Lavi arguing with his easily-angered grandfather.

"L-Lavi, calm down!" Arashi called out, hoping their constant bickering wouldn't knock over the trays of food. While the three were caught up in their own sequence of events, Kanda took this as his opportunity to move away from the quarreling individuals, unbeknownst to the group.

"Ahh, fine," the red-haired boy replied drearily, hearing Arashi's pleading words. "I'm just gonna eat."

Hearing this, Bookman also retreated from the battle, taking his seat next to Lavi and giving Arashi a belated stare.

"Greetings, Arashi-san. I apologize you had to see such a thing between this idiot and I. Lavi has a long way to go before he'll be able to succeed me as a Bookman."

A vein of anger appeared on Lavi's face, but he did his best to ignore the critique. By now, nearly half an hour had passed and the cafeteria was starting to become a little less packed: Arashi was glad, as it meant less people around to witness more possible bickering.

Suddenly, something landed on Arashi's head with a soft plop. She extended her hand upwards, giving the creature a soft pat on the head; the ball of fluff responded by flapping its wings happily. The female smiled and pulled the creature off of her head and down onto the table.

"Tenshi, what's up?"

The white-colored golem bounced up and down, projecting a picture of Komui for its master to see. Arashi sighed with defeat, knowing this meant the chief of the Black Order's science department had requested to meet with the brown-haired exorcist. Bookman and Lavi's eyes followed the female as she got up and threw her now-empty tray into the washer, getting ready to exit the cafeteria.

Lavi, who had also finished eating, scrambled away from the table and followed the girl at a slightly slower pace.

"Gramps, I'm gonna go with Arashi," he said as he picked up his pace, hoping to flee from the man in hopes of not having to do more work. Bookman muttered something about idiots and allowed his successor to exit the cafeteria.

Not realizing someone was following her, Arashi advanced slowly on the path that lead to Komui's office. She held her hands behind her head while looking around headquarters; like always, there were many people wandering around in white coats, doing various things in hopes of boosting the Order's success. The dark, metallic walls were starting to look a little shabby, but that was a given: such an enormous-sized building wasn't exactly easy to take care of.

Before Arashi's mind trailed too far off, she realized Tenshi was missing. Looking around with surprise, the girl immediately noticed Lavi walking quietly behind her with her white golem sitting on his shoulder.

"Lavi, at least tell me you're here," the female muttered, heaving a sigh. The red-haired exorcist ran up closer to his friend, giving her a smile.

"Sorry, sorry," he laughed. "Look! Tenshi likes me!" He pointed to the golem, who was happily smiling as usual and waving its tail.

"Well, you're the one that named her, after all."

The female continued along the path, watching Lavi laugh as Tenshi flew around him amidst her play, pulling on his scarf and watching to see if his reflexes were fast enough to catch her. Tenshi was a special model golem that Lavi and Komui helped build for Arashi on her seventeenth birthday, hence the attachment the white ball of fur held for the red-headed exorcist. Although her birthday was only eleven months ago, Arashi felt like she had been with Tenshi for more than five years now.

'_Oh crap,'_ Arashi thought to herself. '_I just realized my birthday's coming up. I hope Lavi and the rest forgot about it… I'm not really one for celebrations and it's a bit embarrassing,'_ the female thought to herself, blushing.

"Mm? Is something wrong, Arashi?" Questioned Lavi, bumping into the apparently standstill body of the female. The red-haired exorcist's voice had snapped the girl out of her daze and she blinked with surprise, realizing she was now standing in the entrance to Komui's office. The supervisor hadn't noticed her presence, however, as he was busy speaking on the phone.

"Sorry, Lavi," hoarsely replied Arashi. "I was just thinking about things."

"Ohhh, about what?" Lavi leaned down to her level, smirking devilishly. Arashi blushed at the closeness of his face, backing away a bit. Tenshi was sitting on the hammer-wielding exorcist's head, also smirking. Albeit Arashi was its master, the small golem treated Lavi like its second in command.

"Nothing, you big idiot." Arashi pushed Lavi away gently, turning away from him and crossing her hands. It wasn't difficult to read her expression through body language, though: the demonic smirk seemed to send an evil aura throughout the entire room.

"Aww, come on, you can tell me!" Lavi persisted, turning the female around to face him. "Tenshi wants to know, too!"

"I said it's nothing!" Arashi retorted, pulling out two pistols out of her pocket. "Do you want me to shoot you or something? Geez, just because you're so good-looking you think you can get whatever you want out of me…"

"Hmm?" Lavi's grin widened and he seemed to be a lot more excited upon hearing the female's words. "So I'm good looking?"

"Oh shut your trap!" Arashi pointed her pistols in his face. "Do you have a death wish or something, Mr. Eyepatch?"

"Hey, hey!" Lavi extended his palms before him, sweatdropping. "That's not nice!" With that said, he gripped Arashi's left arm on impulse in an attempt to get her to stop. However, accidentally, the young male tripped forward and shut his eyes, awaiting a fall.

When opened, he noticed his face was centimeters away from Arashi's as well as her holding a palm against his stomach to suppress the faceplant. The two blushed, and then-

"Uh, can I interrupt whatever it is you're doing?" Came Komui's voice.

"….sorry," said the two in unison.

"Lavi, why are you here? I asked for Arashi… well, it's all right," Komui sighed. "Arashi, I want you to know I have a mission for you."

"E-Ehh? But I just got back!" The female argued, throwing her arms into the air dramatically. Lavi sighed with a smile, giving the female a pitiful pat on the back.

"Sorry, I'd really like to let you rest, but I'm afraid I need you on this today. You're one of the better long-ranged fighters we have in the Order and you're as mobile as Lenalee, so it makes sense to send you on this mission," Komui spoke, sipping his coffee in the process.

"You never told me what the mission was," scolded Arashi.

"There seems to be an Akuma attack in the town of Ajaccio. Some Finders have reported that the Akuma responsible for this hid themselves underwater and readied to strike when the sun went down, so it can be little troublesome to send someone who can't fight over the sea. I'd send Lenalee, but…" He paused dramatically. "I need my dear Lenalee to bring me my coffee!" Hearts flew all around Komui as he held his hands together lovingly. Arashi and Lavi sweatdropped, not exactly surprised by his sister-loving complex.

"Why not send Allen? He can just strike when they're out of the water using his long-ranged attacks," Arashi stated the obvious.

"We wouldn't want to risk the villagers getting hurt just to give us an opening to attack. Your Innocence allows you to form and control electricity, does it not? We all know how well water conducts electricity, so this mission shouldn't be too difficult; keep in mind that there's one level two and three level ones, though."

"Wasn't Ajaccio the home of Napoleon Bonaparte?" Lavi suddenly added.

"Yes, it was, Lavi," replied the brown-haired exorcist. "Though that was a little random."

"Really?" He said with excitement. "I want to go see it, too!"

"Right, right," Komui sighed at Lavi's hyper-activeness. "Lavi, feel free to go, but remember that this isn't your mission so you won't be getting paid for it."

Lavi agreed without hesitation, dead set on taking the trip to Ajaccio with Arashi to see the sights. Of course, defeating the Akuma was his top priority, but seeing the famous town with his own eyes was something he had been very interested in; having photogenic memory meant one look was all he needed to memorize the entire landmass.

* * *

"Laaaaaaaavi," Arashi stretched her companion's name, staring out the window of the quiet train, unable to handle the total silence any longer. "Are you sure Bookman won't get mad that you just upped and left? This mission could very well last over two days."

"It's fine, I told Komui to tell him," the red-haired exorcist said with a smile. "And besides, he won't mind when I tell him I'm going to witness an Akuma attack at Napoleon's birthplace!"

Sweatdrop. Surely such an excuse couldn't break him free of Bookman's complaints, could it?

"Blödmann," Arashi deadpanned.

"Why are you calling me an idiot in German?" Lavi complained. Arashi sweatdropped; she had really hoped Lavi wouldn't understand that. But of course, being Lavi, not understanding something wasn't very likely.

"Ты с ума сошел!"

"Ehhh? Now you're saying I'm crazy?" Lavi had fake tears sliding down his face at this point. "But!" His face lit up again. "During my travels learning to be a Bookman, I've learned a lot of languages. Betcha can't tell me something I don't already know!"

"Cállate!"

"Be quiet in Spanish."

"Vous êtes ennuyeux!"

"You're annoying in French."

"You know that one, too? Darn it. Here I was thinking I knew a lot of languages. Then again, I mainly only learned the insults to throw at people," Arashi laughed. "But you know, Lavi, you're really smart." She smiled.

"Of course!" He crossed his arms proudly. "I need these smarts to become a proper Bookman."

Arashi didn't want to admit it, but lately she'd been growing less and less fond of the entire existence of Bookmen. Their goal of doing nothing but recording history really grated her nerves at times, as it meant Lavi had to steer clear of any emotional attachments he may encounter along the way. Of course, that meant he needed to treat anyone around him as merely ink on paper: something that was easily disposable. She sighed, trying not to think too much into it. She was pretty sure Lavi wasn't like that, having known him for years. At least she hoped he wasn't.

"Ne, Arashi, I think we're here."

"Oh… right," the female said, thanking Lavi to herself for snapping her out of her daze. "Let's go, then."


	2. And Then There Was Soba

**BMA:** Woohoo! Here's chapter two. This one was very fun to write, especially the ending. XD

* * *

"Ahh! What an awesome place!" Arashi affirmed, stretching her arms upward from exhaustion. Thankfully, the exorcist was used to these hour-long train and boat rides, so her body didn't react as badly as it would've. Like expected, there was one thing that caught her eyes above all else: the beautiful gleam of the sea. She held her bangs out of her eyes as the wind blew gently past, rustling the nearby palm trees. The female sighed and closed her eyes, dozing off to the sound of swaying leaves.

"Ehh, this really is a nice place," added Lavi, following closely behind Arashi. "But it doesn't look like anyone's out."

Having been too distracted by the grace of the area, Arashi confirmed this fact by taking a quick glance around the city. Lavi was right; for such a beautiful city to be this under-populated was highly unlikely. She sighed, advancing to the first house she saw and giving the door a gentle knock.

"Excuse me?" She said as someone's eyes peered out from the slight opening in the door. "May we please ask something?"

Instead of giving a reply, the individual on the other side shut the door with haste. Arashi gave the door a bit of a rougher knock, but alas, the attempt ended in failure. The person living in this house, apparently female, ran up to her windows to shut the curtains. Arashi sighed.

"Lavi," she looked at her red-haired friend. "Can you go ask around if anyone knows the details of what happened? It's going to take forever if I do it myself."

Lavi replied with a nod, not hesitating in the slightest. The hammer-wielding exorcist was an ally anyone could depend on, and it made the female happy that he had decided to tag along. Agreeing to meet up near the docks in an hour, the two split up to search around various parts of the city.

"Excuse me, miss?"

Cue door slammed into face.

"Do you know anything about this, little girl?"

Silence.

"Please, someone… does anyone here know about what's going on?" Yelled Arashi angrily, panting from trailing around town with minimal breaks. She pounded on her knee out of frustration, finally lifting her body up while giving the sky above a piercing look. When in trouble, take your anger out on something completely unrelated!

Albeit searching for close to an hour, Arashi was unable to discern any more than she was already told by Komui and decided to head back to the docks. She noticed Lavi's tired body sitting stiffly on the sand, staring out into the now orange-colored sky. The sun was beginning to set, meaning the Akuma attack would come in only a matter of time.

"Lavi, did you find out anything?" She spoke, putting a hand on his shoulder. Tenshi was sitting in her coat pocket, enjoying the warmth that it held inside.

"Nothing," he said almost a little angrily, leaning his head against the palm of his hand. "I was so sure this one lady would tell me something, but instead she got angry and threw a pot at me, then slammed the door shut! She was so cute, too!" He yelled out, flailing about like a child.

"Are you ever going to stop hitting on women?" Came the voice of a now-ticked Arashi.

"It's kind of hard."

"Well then, since worst has come to worst…" Arashi began, removing her clothing to reveal a tight blue blouse and black shorts. "…I'll be goin' swimming."

Lavi's eye widened as he stared at the brown-haired female before him, pointing at what he was seeing while being almost in doubt. Tenshi, flying out of the coat pocket that was thrown into Lavi's arms, flapped its wings as it watched its master change her appearance drastically. The wind grew slightly stronger, as if on cue. Suddenly, a heart formed in Lavi's eye, and…

"S… STRIKE!"

SLAM.

"Don't you "strike" me!" Arashi said with embarrassment, pulling her fist away from his head. He winced, rubbing the injury with great care. "Komui told me to take care of this before the sun sets so the villagers' lives aren't put in danger."

The Bookman successor's smile faded and his expression changed to something more serious. He watched Arashi come closer to the depths of the sea, shivering as she tried her best to get used to the coldness of the water.

"Arashi, will you be okay?" He asked, worried.

"I'll be fine, Lavi," she muttered, half-confident. "If anything happens, I'll give you a signal. But my god, is the water cold today… though I've no time to complain."

With that said, Arashi took a deep breath and hurled herself into the water, disappearing within seconds. Lavi watched her figure fade into the ocean and stared out into the open sea, Tenshi sitting on his shoulder.

This may not turn out so good, his inner mind told him.

* * *

'_How deep in the sea __**are **__these things?'_ Muttered the female to herself as she explored the almost endless mass of liquid. '_Having to go up for air every two minutes is really annoying me.' _She didn't think she'd have to swim far to find the Akuma, but being an exorcist, anything could happen. Her surroundings got darker and colder as she proceeded forward, checking the bracelets on each of her hands every once in a while to make sure her anti-Akuma weapon was still intact. Not only was the town quiet, but the sea, as well; Arashi thought for sure there'd be at least some kind of life presence this far down into the mass of water.

Due to her inner bickering, she was unable to notice the small light growing larger ahead of her. She grimaced as something got ahold of her foot, startling the gun-wielding exorcist.

'_Ah, crap!' _She said to herself. '_They had to get me when I was distracted!'_

At that very moment, she felt a whirling sensation come to life around her body, picking up pace immensely and sucking her body further down into the sea. Arashi felt her body go numb as she realized one of her bracelets had snapped and washed away; without it, she no longer had her mobility. Arashi couldn't escape with ease anymore.

She looked down: an Akuma resembling a hammerhead shark glared at her with an enormous grin, happy to have captured its prey. She tried to resist the impeccably powerful grasp, worrying about her need for air. The female's time underwater was almost up and overdoing would mean death.

"Damn it, let go!" Arashi yelled out, trying to stomp its face flat underwater. "Let me go, you stupid Akuma! You're level two, aren't you?" She stammered, seeing no presence of any level ones nearby.

"Indeed! Us level two's are to be feared~" It finally replied with a robotic-sounding tone. "I'm afraid that you, as an exorcist, will not be allowed to escape."

"Well then…" Arashi replied with a grin, watching her bracelet transform as a reaction to her sudden rage. "Innocence, activate!" Upon her words, the bracelet fully formed into a white-colored pistol with a golden grip frame. The most noticeable part of this anti-Akuma weapon was its chassis, which had an electrical pattern tattooed onto it.

Not even giving herself time to hesitate, the female pulled the trigger on her gun, watching the Akuma screech out in pain as the bullet pierced through its eye, turning the whirling sea around it a shade of crimson. This caused the monster to release Arashi from its grasp, sending her swirling around in the whirlpool, which seemed to be getting slightly smaller; Arashi assumed the intensity of this disaster came from the level two. Now that it had been injured, it was unable to keep the attack going with as much strength.

She took a much-deserved breath of air, looking down onto the shore to see Lavi fending off three level one's, just as Komui had informed. She smiled with relief upon noticing it only took a minute to take them all down, glad that her friend was not in any danger. Before she could give Lavi a signal for help, she was pulled back down underwater by the not-yet-destroyed level two.

"Where do you think you're going, exorcist?" It growled, revealing the Akuma's extremely pointy teeth.

"Nowhere, but pretty soon you'll be going somewhere," she said loudly, trying her best not to be pulled back down underwater by either the whirlpool or the level two.

"The only one going somewhere is you."

As soon as the monster finished its sentence, Arashi felt teeth sink into her foot, watching the blood pour out and mix with the water. She cringed, a single tear falling down her eye due to the immense pain; these teeth were so powerful and she wouldn't have been surprised if they pierced a hole through her foot entirely. She felt her body get engulfed by the open sea as the Akuma dragged her down to her demise.

'_Dammit…'_ She faltered. '_I can't free myself from this damn thing's grasp because of the pain in my foot…'_

At that moment, a hand reached out for the female before she could be taken any further down, holding onto her tightly. She immediately knew who it was, recognizing that glove on the rescuer's hand: Lavi. The red-haired exorcist reacted quickly and gave the slightly-startled Akuma a swift punch which freed Arashi from becoming the monster's dinner. Immediately after, he pulled Arashi out of the water and sat her down onto his hammer while the Akuma was distracted with its newly-received wound.

"Arashi!" He called out, taking note of her injured foot. "Are you okay? I know you didn't give a signal, but that whirlpool was enough of one."

"Lavi…" She coughed out water. "I'm glad you're here. Thank god for that hammer being able to extend so far… it's like you're riding a broomstick," she suddenly joked.

"I can't attack when I'm riding my hammer, though," he laughed uneasily. "If I could, this would've been a piece of cake!"

During this little chatter, the Akuma was given enough time to recover from the injury and lunge itself upward, getting ready to strike. Lavi, noticing just in time, moved his ride in a more safe direction. The demon refused to stop, tossing a barrage of water-based attacks at the two, hoping to strike them down. Lavi panted as an entire pool of water shot out from under them, holding the female close to his body using his left arm while his right arm did the steering. There wasn't much more he could do in such a situation.

Arashi felt herself enjoying the warmth of Lavi's chest, but was now the time for that?

"Lavi." She stood up despite the gaping bruise. "I can do this, I still have one part of my innocence left even though the second was washed away in the current. I just need the right time."

"Don't overdo it, Arashi!" He pleaded to his friend, trying to focus on dodging. The female nodded with a warm smile, which caused the red-haired exorcist to blush slightly; although she'd been opening up more, such a sincere smile wasn't something that happened very often.

Three seconds until the Akuma clasps its fins together, getting the strongest possible attack ready.

Seven seconds until the attack charge completed and the Akuma's tail began spinning to build up as much speed as possible.

Ten seconds until it pierced through the water, flying out almost like a bird and diving down once the height was satisfying enough.

"Now!" Arashi hollered, jumping off of Lavi's hammer. "Dance of Storms: Chaos Impact!" Hearings the announcement of attack, Arashi's innocence blasted a ray of blue light towards the Akuma, engulfing its body before the opposing attack even had a chance to hit. Once taken damage, the level two yelled out in pain as it was flung back into the sea, taking note of the sparks of electricity surging throughout its body. The creature's eyes widened, confused as to what was going on.

Twenty-one seconds until the Akuma realized its life would not last much longer.

"Chaos Impact sends electricity particles into your body once it hits," Arashi confirmed, landing back down onto her previous footing. "Oh, I'll also say that your nerves will blow up once given the command. May your soul rest in peace," she gave a small bow before snapping her fingers, watching the Akuma's explode from the inside, removing all traces of the monster. The whirlpool faded momentarily, leaving the two with nothing but silence to surround them.

Before she could give herself a thumbs-up, she found herself collapsing from the pain put onto her damaged foot; Lavi, however, caught her before her fall landed her back into the black sea.

"Arashi!" He called. "Let's get you to a doctor. There has to be one in this town somewhere…" He held the female in his arms while ejecting his hammer to get back onto the shore.

"Wait, my innocence!" She suddenly called out, trying to force herself out of Lavi's grasp. "I can't leave without it!"

"Don't worry, don't worry," Lavi reassured. "I've got it right here." He pulled Arashi's beloved bracelet out of his coat pocket, smiling happily as he pried the round object into her hands. She blinked, utterly confused by the entire situation.

"I found it in the water when I was on my way to help you. But weren't you able to fly around like Lenalee? Why couldn't you do that during the battle?" He suddenly questioned.

"Thank you. I didn't think it would snap open so easily, guess I need to adjust it a bit," she sighed with comfort, slipping the bracelet back onto her hand. "And I can only fly if I've got both of parts of my innocence with me, idiot Lavi. I thought you were a Bookman!"

"I was hoping you'd be a little nicer to me since I saved you! You know, a little bit more romantic!" He scratched his cheek with a sigh, sweatdropping. "At least don't struggle so I can hold you properly!"

"I'm not good with romance," Arashi muttered, allowing her muscles to relax and leaning into his chest once more. "What am I supposed to even say?"

"Something like, 'Oh, Lavi, my hero! Thank you for saving me!'" He smiled joyfully and gave his own body a hug as a demonstration, grinning widely. "…and once that's done, you can hug me and we'll be hap-"

"No," Arashi blushed, cutting him off.

The two had arrived back at the shore shortly after, realizing that there were a group of about three people watching the two make their arrival. They stared in awe, taking note of the damage taken by the female that was being carried bridal-style by Lavi.

"Oh my, this young lady needs help!" Called the male with black hair. "Josephine, get them to our house!"

"Are you doctors? Why did you only come outside now? We've been questioning the entire town earlier and no one wanted to speak with us!" Questioned Lavi, curiousness written all over his face. Arashi stared at them with her eyes half-closed, tired from the combat. Tenshi noticed the presence of its owner and flew down from the nearby palm tree and landed on top of her head, wings scrunched due to worry.

"We work as doctors for this city. Please come this way!" She gestured. Lavi, really having no other choice at the moment, pulled his hammer back and followed the three to their small, tan-colored home. The atmosphere in this cottage was heartwarming and calm; a fireplace stood in the center with myriads of paintings scattered all over the rooms' walls.

He lied Arashi down onto the bed, watching her pant from exhaustion. Tenshi refused to leave her master's side for even a split second, being anything but passive. The little girl of the group of three ran up to the brown-haired exorcist, holding her hands to her chest while looking at her father tend to her wounds.

"I'm sorry if our meeting was hasty, but now that we're inside, please allow me to introduce us," the female, Josephine, stated while watching her husband give his usual treatment. "I'm Josephine and this is my husband, Lucas. The little girl is our beloved daughter, Lily. We've been working as doctors for a while now, even before our little nine-year-old was born."

Lavi sat himself down onto the couch next to Arashi, taking off his wet coat.

"Why is it that everyone's hiding from us?" He questioned again, tone more on the serious side.

"This town has been very dangerous lately…" Spoke Lucas as he began his examination of the female's foot. "Everyone is afraid of everyone else. You see, ever since three weeks ago, one of our people began disappearing every night and we assume it's because of these so-called Akuma. Everyone is scared that whoever is speaking to them is actually an enemy here to take them away. Oh, and it doesn't seem like your friend's foot is in too much danger. "

Lily circled around Arashi, her shoulder-length black hair swaying with her movements. Just then, she ran into what apparently was her room, stepping back out with a teddy bear. Although it seemed to be a cherished item, the girl put it next to Arashi's sleeping body and smiled happily.

Lavi couldn't help but smile, too. He felt a surge of warmness overcome his body and did not bother dismissing it. He took off his emerald-colored bandana to give his hair some relief, and then realized something.

"You're aware of what Akuma are?"

"Well, not exactly. Someone that's part of the same group as you came in earlier and told us about it," replied Josephine. "He should be coming back soon. He said he had a phone call to make…"

"W-Who?" Asked Lavi with surprise, wondering who the heck could've bothered coming all the way here when the mission was already being worked on. Somehow, only one person came into his head.

"Well, he was pretty old, so I'm assuming he's someone's grandfather…" The female muttered with a laugh.

"It can't be-"

At that moment, the door opened gently and a short figure made its way into the room. Lavi gaped, half-expecting this and half not.

"Ehhhh? Gramps?" He said with confusion. "Why are you here?" This earned him a swift hit over the head. Josephine and Lucas watched with surprise as Bookman scolded his grandson, hitting him multiple times.

"Why does everyone keep hitting me today? That hurt, you panda!" He yelled out, wincing from the pain for the umpteenth time. "I helped Arashi take care of the Akuma, so give me a break! I even rescued her from drowning!"

"Why did you run off earlier, imbecile? This is not how a Bookman successor should behave. I told you we had work to do yet you ignore that and go off on your skirt-chasing adventures!" Bookman yelled. Lavi sweatdropped, inching away from his angry grandfather and closer to Arashi's laying body.

"You must be close," Josephine stated suddenly, causing Lavi to nearly lose his mind. How did this kind of behavior equal being close?

Bookman walked over to the injured Arashi, placing a hand gently to her injured foot. He examined it in silence while putting two fingers to various parts of her damaged foot to examine the surrounding bones and muscles.

"Hm," he stated calmly. "It looks like her bone is broken, but other than that, the damage isn't very severe," the Bookman confirmed what Lucas had said previously.

"Lavi…" Arashi muttered, apparently dreaming. His eyes went a little wide as he turned around to face her, wondering what exactly had been on the female's mind. Despite the presence of Bookman, he couldn't stop himself from putting his hand on hers, sighing with relief at the news about her injury.

"Lavi," his grandfather said. "You're being too intimate."

Not realizing how strongly he was holding her hand, Lavi quickly released her from his grasp with a sweatdrop.

"Sorry, gramps," he muttered. "I was just feeling her hand to see her body temperature," he lied.

"Now that the treatment's done, we'll leave you three be. Please make yourselves at home and feel free to stay however long you need to," Lucas' wife said, pulling her two family members along to another room. "Come on, honey. Lily, our new friends are tired and want to take a nap, so let's leave them, shall we?" She smiled down onto her daughter's curious figure, who responded by taking her mother's hand and following her to the nearby room.

"Oh, old panda, who were you on the phone with earlier?" Questioned Lavi while seeing the family off. An anger vein appeared on Bookman's face; he really hated being called by this name.

"I was confirming my arrival at Ajaccio to the chief of the Black Order; he apparently found out that the level two responsible for these attacks could be difficult to take out due to its abilities, so he told me to pass on the message that a reinforcement was sent out."

"Reinforcement…? We don't need one, gramps, Arashi already beat the Akuma."

"Imbecile," Bookman deadpanned. "The time of the phone call was before Arashi-san set off for battle. Considering the time it takes to get from the Order to here, our reinforcement should be here soon. It seems we'll have no choice but to have them help move Arashi-san back to the Order since the enemy has already been defeated."

"O-Oh, right," the red-haired exorcist laughed. "I just hope whomever this reinforcement is doesn't get pissed off that we took care of the target already."

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Lavi blinked, wondering if this was the reinforcement his grandfather had just spoken about. He proceeded to the door and took a peek outside, noticing a slightly-angry long-haired figure.

"Oh god," Arashi finally spoke, startling Lavi. "I can tell who that reinforcement is without even needing to look. I can tell from the way he KNOCKS."

"Y-You're awake, Arashi?" Lavi said before pulling open the door. "And you heard us?" She gave a slight nod, apparently already feeling better.

"Stupid rabbit," muttered Kanda, entering the room. "Where is the Akuma?"

Silence.

"We took care of it already, Yu. Sorry for wasting your time!" As soon as Lavi finished his sentence, he threw his arms in front of him protectively as if predicting that Kanda will strike due to anger. The blue-haired exorcist simply allowed an anger vein to form on his face, itching closer to the hammer-wielding redhead.

"You did **what**?"

"Sorry, Yu," Lavi repeated, sweatdropping and backing away. "But we need help carrying Arashi back to the Order, so there's a job for ya."

"I came all this way for **that**?" Kanda complained. "I'm going back."

"Hey, blueboy," Arashi suddenly spoke out. "You need to be more social." Kanda froze on his spot and twitched, which was exactly what Arashi was hoping for; operation "Stop Kanda from Leaving" was a success!

"I do what I like to and nothing else, little menace," he deadpanned. "If I don't want to do something, I won't do it." A mass of tension was starting to build up around the two bickering exorcists.

"So little menace is your nickname for me? Guess you really do give nicknames to everyone you know, huh?" Arashi sighed. "If you help carry me back, it'll be a week's worth of soba on the house." Her eye glinted with evilness.

Kanda looked at her in silence for a moment, not moving from his spot next to the door. He finally shut it behind him, long blue hair no longer swaying with the wind.

"How about a month?"

"Don't push it, blueboy. I don't have that much money."

And the issue of Kanda not wanting to help his fellow exorcist was solved.


	3. Friends

**BMA:** Yay, chapter three! I'm going to start asking for reviews before I go any further starting now. There's really no point in writing this if no one's interested, right? XD I've already gotten quite a few favorites/story alerts for this, but reviews are something I'm seeking more. Reviews are the things others see, and if a story has, say, 10 chapters and only 3 reviews, people will assume it's not very good and skip over it. Thanks! I'm seeking five more reviews for this, so please review away! Even the tiniest comment makes me feel like writing. ^^

* * *

"Arashi-san, please stay still!" Scolded a middle-aged female, looking down at the girl with discontent. Amidst Arashi's wincing and flinching, two nurses collaborated on healing her foot. Their faces were anything but eager and they seemed to be working as quick as possible to get this drama over with.

"Are you guys done yet?" Stuttered the female, holding one eye closed due to the stinging sensation in her foot.

"W-We're putting the bandages on now, exorcist-sama," replied the younger-looking black-haired nurse. "It'll be ready in just a moment, so please stay still!"

Arashi closed her eyes completely, intent on ridding her mind of the painful thoughts that had been running savage throughout her body. Much to her surprise, it did help quite a bit: she found herself settling down rather quickly. Although Arashi wasn't the type of person who thrashed about during doctor visits anymore, she still couldn't quite keep back the wincing when seeing the disgusting view of the patient room. Who'd be able to take that after being introduced to needles the size of tunnel drills?

It's not that the foot pain was too painful. It was simply her body trying to make it seem so because of the gruesome scene she had to endure.

"That's much better, Arashi-san," said the head nurse in a calm tone. "Though settling down isn't exactly useful when the nurses are already finished."

Arashi blinked, not really wanting to argue. She sat up slowly to test her body's reaction and, much to her surprise, felt very miniscule pain. Albeit being in the nurse's office for a good week, she expected her wound to take longer to heal. Not really questioning it, she slowly made her way off of the bed and stood on her own two feet for the first time in what felt like years. The nurses smiled, moving out of her way to give the female room to walk around.

"Well, seems you're doing fine, so you're free to go," one of the girls commented. "Just don't stress your foot out too much."

Arashi bowed, throwing a warm smile right back at them. She was very happy inside because Komui had been too busy to make visits to her infirmary room; who knows what he would've suggested they do if he HAD went.

"Thank you muchly," Arashi gave a belated reply, proceeding towards the door. "I'm going to go rest in my room before Komui realizes I'm 'in perfect condition' and sends me on another craptastic mission." She sighed and received nothing but sweatdrops as a response.

Exiting the infirmary, she slowly made her way right and took the elevator to the proper destination: the 21st floor. Much to her dismay, it seemed like a rather _unusual _situation was happening right on the same area she had needed to cross in order to get to her comfort zone.

"Oh god, it's Komui," Arashi whispered, backing away into a corner. A robot stood next to him, glowing brightly as if it were made a mere second ago; on top of that, a few people from the Science Department crowded around the man, apparently pleading.

"Supervisor, p-please! We don't need another Komurin!" Begged Reever, one of his subordinates.

'_Another Komurin? He's still making those things?'_

"But, but, but, but, but! Kanda-kun got a little angry and broke some glass earlier, so I built this robot to help us clean it! I was on my way to ask him if he needed help!"

Yeah, sometimes it sucked to live on the same floor as Kanda.*

"Wouldn't it be easier to just send someone? You're so into your machines, supervisor!" Scolded another member of the Science Department, trying to grab the controller of this enormous robot from his hands. No luck. "And besides, Kanda hates these things! It already tried to eat his soba before, remember? That's a taboo! A taboo, I say!"

"But this one's an improvement! It has better combat, strategy, and cleanliness ability!" Komui cheered himself on, hearts floating around him. "At least let me try it out!"

"Things have **never** ended well when you tried them out before, so why do you think this time'll be different? Let's see… Komurin 1," began Reever as he pulled out a file from his labcoat. "Sliced when it tried to eat Kanda's soba. Komurin 2: Went berserk and chased Allen all around HQ before he finally destroyed it in Paris. The recent Komurin 3: Nearly annihilated Paris and was destroyed before things got too out of hand by Lenalee."

"Just let me try it!" He yelled with tears spilling out of his eyes dramatically. Arashi went pale and tried to tiptoe past the group to her room, crossing her fingers that she'd go by unnoticed.

"Oh my, it's Arashi! You're better?" Komui asked with joy, dancing around while giving her Komurin a gentle caress.

'_Oh god, what a fetish,'_ Arashi spoke to herself. Johnny ran up to her and smiled, glad to see the girl was feeling all right so soon.

"I'm fine, guys. But can I please go to my room? I really don't want anything to do with this."

All the members of the Science Department crowding around Komui sighed, as if thinking: "you're not the only one." Arashi blinked, breaking into a small fit of laughter. Everyone looked at her with confusion, wondering about her sudden change in attitude.

"Your subordinates don't seem too happy with you, Komui," she said amidst laughter. "You should listen to what they say more. You're twenty-nine years old, shouldn't you know by now that these robots are no good? Even Bak isn't this crazy!"

"Not true, not true, not true!" Komui flailed his arms around, continuing his whining and complaining amidst dramatic, sparkling tears. Komurin, reacting to its command, had the eye in its core glow red and proceeded to make its way towards Arashi.

"SUPERVISOR! Arashi just got out of the nurse's office, stop Komurin this instant!" The group yelled in unison. Arashi went pale, twitching like a madman.

"Komurin 3.5 reacts to my emotions. Once it's started, I can't stop it," Komui said uncaringly.

"YOU'RE NOT SERIOUS!" Arashi yelled out. "I'm making a run for my money, then!" She dashed in the opposite direction, planning on leading it to the direction away from her one-and-only room. It held far too many valuable possessions to risk letting Komurin go anywhere near it.

As hard as she tried to run at mach 2 speed, her injury just wouldn't allow it. Anime tears slid down her face as she continued the wild goose chase.

'_And I __**just**__ got out of the infirmary! Why does this feel like a running theme?'_

MEANWHILE…

"Lavi. What are you doing?" Questioned Bookman. "You've been acting strange lately."

"Hm?" Replied Lavi, picking out some books from a shelf. Carefully balancing himself on the ladder, he glanced down towards his elder. "Why do you say that, panda?"

"Stop calling me that!" He yelled, shaking the ladder as a sign of threat. "It's the way you're behaving. You've been running off a lot lately and I'm not very satisfied. Have you forgotten about your role as a Bookman?"

Lavi blinked, expecting something of this nature: everything Bookman ever lectured him about was somehow tied to Lavi's future occupation.

"Yeah, yeah. You really do worry too much, gramps. Everything's under control!" He smiled, flashing an enormous grin. At that very moment, Lavi's foot slid and his body went tumbling downwards; the books he had been carrying decided to follow. Landing on his stomach, he rolled around while cringing in pain. As he tried to get up, books hit him straight on the head, causing the redhead to plop down again.

"Owwww…."

"You imbecile." Bookman rolled his eyes, reading a book he took from the first shelf. "Sometimes I wonder if I need a new apprentice."

"G-Gramps!" Lavi suddenly panicked, waving his hands around worriedly while getting his body up from the cold ground.

Before the two could say any more, a loud rumble was heard. Feeling the small earthquake, Lavi and Bookman were slightly startled, turning their heads around in the direction of the noise.

"What was that, gramps?"

"Let's go, Lavi. It could be danger."

As the two dashed forward, they noticed they weren't the only ones startled by the alarm. A few other workers of the Black Order had come to examine the situation, staring up in disbelief. As Lavi zoomed past the crowd, he looked in the direction others were point at: upwards, where the rooms of all the people living here were.

"G-Gramps, that looks like a robot or something."

Bookman did not give a reply, but simply stared calmly as he watched the scenario unfold.

"Hey! I think that's Arashi!" His eyes went a little wide as he gripped the railing. "She got out of the infirmary already? Crap, it looks like that stupid thing's chasing her, too. It doesn't look like it's an Akuma… if it was, I'm sure there'd be a signal."

The red-haired exorcist took this as his cue. He grabbed his weapon, pointing it upwards and calling out the command:

"Odzuchi Kodzuchi! Shin!" [Big Hammer, Little Hammer! Extend!]

And with that said, Lavi was now zooming up to the scene of the crime, other members of the Black Order watching with immense curiosity. Upon arrival, he jumped hastily onto the ground while retracting his weapon. Before he could fully turn around, Arashi lunged herself into his chest.

"L-Lavi! Help meee!" She whined, brutally frustrated. Lavi laughed as he held her warm body, assuming she didn't realize the position they were in.

"I'm serious, Lavi! Help me get away from that thing!" She cried. "My innocence is in my room so I can't fight it!"

"I was pretty surprised to see you up here. But have no fear, Lavi is here!" He pointed proudly to himself, advancing in front of Arashi protectively with his weapon at its full size in his hands.

"For God's sake, I'm not even going to ask how you were able to see me up at the 21st floor. You and your magical Bookman powers…" She sighed, cowering behind him while watching Komurin finally catch up to the two.

"Instinct."

"I said I wasn't going to ask!"

Komurin fired a laser beam straight at Arashi while Komui sat in the driver's seat and giggled like a schoolgirl. He was apparently very happy with all the damage that's been done; any more could very well mean the destruction of this floor entirely.

"No can do, metal freak!" Lavi called out, shielding the two from the beam with his hammer. While this was helpful, it did have a downside: sending the beam in other directions and allowing it to smash into the surrounding walls.

"No way, Lavi!" Komui finally spoke. "You'll be tasting defeat by Komurin 3.5 right here, right now!"

Lavi twitched as he watched Komui press a button on his beloved robot. The robot shook for a few moments before growing in size, now at least two times taller than the two pint-sized exorcists. It hurled its arm straight for Lavi and Arashi, and then…

Smash!

Komurin fell apart before it could finish its attack. Komui, devastated by the sudden change in events, slid down his robot with anime tears running down his face. He pounded the ground sadly.

"My Komurin! My Komurin!" He whined.

"Hip hip hooray for Allen!" Chanted the group of scientists huddled in a corner for protection.

"Komui-san, are you ever going to stop this?" Came the voice of a certain young gray-haired exorcist, his anti-Akuma weapon activated. "It's really dangerous! Look at what you did!"

"A-Allen!" Arashi said with joy, running up to the boy and giving her thanks. "You saved me. I thought I was going to die there."

"H-Hey," Lavi walked up to the two. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Oh yeah. Thanks to you too, Lavi… even though you didn't really do anything helpful." She eyed the damaged wall as she spoke.

"Ouch," Lavi said out loud in a faint whisper. Allen laughed softly, smiling at his two friends while deactivating his innocence.

"I'm glad you're safe, Arashi. All the noise made me drop my mitarashi dango, so I had to come up here and see what it was." He scratched the back of his head as Arashi sweatdropped.

"So food's the reason he's here, huh… figures. Allen is a demon when his food's been taken," she said, sighing.

The group sighed, knowing full well the day wasn't even half over.

ABOUT 10 MINUTES LATER LATER:

"Lavi, why're you tailing me? I just want to take a nap. I'm really tired, you know. Didn't even have a chance to go rest in my room before Komurin attacked me," muttered Arashi as she plopped down onto her bed.

"I know, I know," Lavi replied, following suit. "I just missed ya! Is that really that bad?" He said with a large grin, putting his hands on his hips.

"I missed you too, but can you please get out? I need my beauty sleep."

"You're already beautiful~" He said goofily, flailing his arms about as he examined her room. "Geez, you've become so mean over the past few years! Where's the cute, sweet girl I used to know? !" Lavi promptly sat down next to Arashi and put his chin on her shoulder. She felt her stomach tighten.

"Right next to you," Arashi joked, giving him a harmless smack on the head with her fist. He laughed, rubbing the back of his head with his usual trademark smile as the brown-haired girl's gaze bore into the side of his face. "I guess I'll be like you and say, 'Where's that distant, mysterious Lavi I used to know? !'"

Lavi was a little surprised to hear this, but sighed as he laid himself down onto Arashi's soft bed. She looked down at him, still sitting, wondering what the boy was thinking.

"I still remember that day, you know," came Lavi's voice as his head tilted to the right, allowing his bangs to cover his eyes. His bandana was no longer on, which Arashi liked a lot: it made him look even more charming.

"Hm? Oh… you mean the time we truly became friends."

FLASHBACK:

"_Arashi-chan! Can you help me carry this to brother's room? He's been neglecting his work, so the science department asked me to help straighten him up," Lenalee said whilst carrying an enormous stack of papers, obvious suffering in her voice._

"_Comin', Lenalee! Don't even try carrying all of that by yourself!" Arashi replied from her side of the hallway, rushing to her good friend's side. She smiled as Lenalee handed her half of the stack of paperwork, taking the lead as the two walked towards Komui's office. Arashi stared at the female exorcist's straight, black-green hair, envying its qualities. She had always loved Lenalee's hair – enough to even ask what shampoo she used._

"_It'll be a few minutes before we get there. Sorry for troubling you," Lenalee apologized. "Oh, have you seen the new exorcists yet? Apparently they're a group of Bookmen who arrived about two days ago. I met one of them yesterday. He was pretty nice. Quiet, but nice."_

"_New exorcists? Nope, I don't remember seeing anyone I didn't recognize. Doesn't Komui always have parties welcoming new exorcists, anyway? You'd assume he'd have done one by now…" Arashi muttered, shaking her head to get her bangs out of her view._

"_Oh, I asked brother why he didn't schedule one, and it turns out they requested not to have a party. Usually we make sure not to tell the exorcists about the party we throw for them, but they somehow knew ahead of time. It's a little strange, but I'm sure they have their reasons," Lenalee giggled._

"_Guess you're right, Lenalee…"_

_With that said, the group arrived to the office of Black Order's European Branch supervisor, Komui Lee. Lenalee thanked Arashi as she placed the paperwork onto the man's desk and waved goodbye. As much as the brown-haired exorcist would've loved to help out more, she was intent on doing her own duties. She had a mission to go to in a few hours and it was never too early to start preparing._

"_Guess I better get going." She hopped onto the elevator, ready to ascend to her room. This mission shouldn't take long as it was in an area not too far away, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Upon getting off, Arashi noticed a group of two walking around the halls. One looked to be a boy around her age and the other was much, much older. _

_Mesmerized with the arrival of newcomers, Arashi didn't even realize she was about to bump into the group. Lucky for her, the two noticed her presence and managed to avoid the collision._

"_S-Sorry about that," Arashi apologized, giving a bow. "I'm Arashi. Are you the two new exorcists? I'm sorry to ask, but why are you on this floor? Is this where your rooms are?" She questioned curiously._

"_Good to meet you, Arashi-san," the elderly man replied. "Please do not hesitate to ask us anything; we are here to fight as soldiers for the Order and owe you a lot for accepting us as exorcists. At the moment, we are examining every floor of the Black Order as it is a requirement for our job. I have no name, so call me Bookman - the one here is Lavi." Lavi blinked at the girl before him, hands stuffed in his pockets. He gave a small smile. _

"_Hi there, Arashi-chan. Nice to meet you."_

'_They have to patrol this entire building for their job? I'd hate to be working as whatever they are,' she thought to herself._

"_Ah…" Arashi said quietly, a bit dumbfounded. "I see. Well, I've got a mission to prepare for, so please excuse me. If there's anything you need, feel free to ask! I hope to get to know you better."_

_And since then, Arashi had ended up seeing the two on a daily basis, moreso Lavi. Be it in the cafeteria, in the halls, on missions, in the library… they had frequented many places and gotten to know their surroundings very quickly. Arashi never failed to greet Lavi; he was quite gentle, but there was something she didn't quite like about him._

"_Lavi," Arashi spoke, sitting next to him on his bed. Today was Christmas and she didn't like how he had chosen to spend the day alone. Even Bookman was gone… on an information gathering mission, to be exact. Leaving his pupil alone on such a major holiday knowing he'd choose to spend the day himself was a little upsetting, so the female decided to stay with the redhead for as long as possible on this day. "You sure you don't want to go to the party? It's your first Christmas at the Order."_

"_Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. I'm not really a party person, Arashi-chan," he replied, staring as his knees as he sat on his bed. "You should go. I feel bad for keeping you here."_

"_Don't worry, Lavi. I came here of my own free will, so don't feel bad."_

_He smiled at her. Again, a small hint of sadness seemed to corrode her body as she watched his gestures unfold. She walked up to the boy, looking down at his mysterious figure._

"_Lavi, don't push yourself…" She began, hoping not to falter. "I noticed that ever since you came here a few months ago, your smile has not once been genuine."_

_Lavi froze._

"_I know it's not in my place to meddle, but you only get one life. I truly believe people are born into this world to experience pain, love, sadness, happiness, and every other kind of feeling that's out there. You have a family now; Lenalee and the rest of us really care about you. Komui may be an idiot, but he cares more about you all than you can ever imagine. Don't think about what you have to do, think about what you __**want**__ to do."_

_Silence engrossed the room for a split second as Arashi took a deep breath._

"_I don't know if you're being distant because you want to, or because of being a Bookman, but I want to see your true smile. As an exorcist, as a Bookman, and as my friend…" She paused for a moment. "…you earned that."_

_Lavi's green eye went wide. He slowly raised his head and looked at Arashi, whom was smiling. She extended a hand to the redhead as a smile crept onto his face, giving off warmth never seen before. He took her hand gently and got himself up. _

"_So that's what you really look like…" Arashi said. "This way, you're so much more charming. Please don't forget that."_

_

* * *

_

As Arashi's thought process ended, she didn't realize how big the smile on her face was. She sighed, plopping backwards on the bed and ending up a few centimeters away from Lavi's body. The red-haired exorcist was too shy to admit it, but that was the best day of his life. Without those words, Lavi wouldn't have been the kind of person he was at this very moment.

"Like I said, you used to be so nice!"

"Like I said," Arashi mimicked. "I'm only nice to newcomers since I don't want to scare them away. Once I get to know you, you'd see my true self," she laughed. "Because I only open up this much to the ones I'm close to."

"Awww, we're close!" Lavi said with a cat-shaped mouth, rolling back and forth on the bed.

"Hey! I may have a queen-sized bed, but that doesn't mean you can just roll around knowing there's enough room for us both and get it dirty!" Arashi complained.

"Fine," the redhead replied with a slight tint of disappointment. Suddenly, he unzipped his coat and threw it aside, revealing his usual blue-colored undershirt. "Now I'm all tidy~!" He sang.

"Don't you have your own room, stupid rabbit?" The female whined, punching the air above her.

"You're taking after Yu now? I'd better stay away, then," he joked, rolling on top of her on accident. This action caused Arashi to blush like no tomorrow – she was practically as red as a tomato. Lavi didn't seem to notice as he was too busy engrossed by his fantasies. She could only wonder what they were about.

"Ajfjgjyhhiwjavf jughbu!"

"What?" Lavi questioned, tilting his head in confusion.

"Do you not notice the position we're in?"

"….oh," the boy said, finally realizing he had unconsciously done something inappropriate. He laughed uneasily, rolling off of the girl as she breathed heavily from embarrassment.

"Look," she began. "I'm not going to ask about what kind of erotic fantasies you have, but can you please vamoose? Shoo. I'm tired."

"Arashi doesn't like Lavi?" He suddenly spoke in third person. At that moment, Arashi realized just how much she loved hearing the boy say his own name. It was…. music to her ears, in a way. She tried to swallow it down and did not notice the lack of response from her mouth.

"Ne, Arashi-chan?" Lavi questioned, slipping his coat back on.

"N-Nothing…" She mumbled under her breath. "Good night… Lavi."

* * *

Star = I'm not sure what floor Kanda lives on, so I just made up a number. If it's been confirmed, feel free to message me so I can correct it!


End file.
